The West Wing!

[J. Stephen McDonald]

The West Wing series has to be continued. It's starting to get really good, with new people and situations coming into it. And the potential for great interactions between a Demo President and a GOP VP are unlimited. Those two actors could fill the roles of their careers and they plan to pull the rug right out from under them! We need this show to be pitted against the alternate version of things on Commander in Chief. These two shows are needed to provide a relief from the realities of the day.

[Mark Bournes]

Funny, I said the same thing after watching last night's episode. I'm hoping enough interest stirrs up another network's interest. I don't think NBC would keep it going, but they should. I would imagine the ratings are going up for the show these past fwe weeks, and that alone should make NBC reconsider. Hope it happens.

Mark

[Charles Papert]

Keep an eye out for "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", Aaron Sorkin's new series about the behind-the-scenes of a Saturday Night Live-type show. Many of the West Wing creative team involved (including Brad Whitford on camera).

[J. Stephen McDonald]

Originally Posted by Mark Bournes

Funny, I said the same thing after watching last night's episode. I'm hoping enough interest stirrs up another network's interest. I don't think NBC would keep it going, but they should. I would imagine the ratings are going up for the show these past few weeks, and that alone should make NBC reconsider. Hope it happens.

Mark

I had the same idea last year, when NYPD-Blue ended its run. That show was at its best, in my opinion. New people and situations were being added and things were working very nicely. Sipowicz had gotten a promotion and there was an aura of future possibilities that made you want to see how they developed. This was not a program that seemed to be playing out its swan-song. Its last episode was more like a pilot show for a new series, than an ending. I was thinking that the show might be reinstated on a cable network. With all the broadcast-program restrictions lifted, this show could have invoked the raw and disturbing elements of real police work, of which you saw only a hint on ABC. If only 20% of NYPD-Blue's devoted fans subscribed to a cable channel to watch it, that would be a very large boost for them.

[Edward Slonaker]

The West Wing is the best thing to happen to Smits since NYPD Blue (oh c'mon, was he really that believable as a Jedi Master???) and Alda since M*A*S*H and they're going to cut it off after such a short run?!?! The writing's top notch, the acting's gotten WAY better, they even got SAM BACK! It really is the West Wing I remember from years past. I would love for it to continue.

[Scott Vystrcil]

Originally Posted by Edward Slonaker

The West Wing is the best thing to happen to Smits since NYPD Blue (oh c'mon, was he really that believable as a Jedi Master???)

Too be picky (and to show how much of a nerd I am) He played Bail Organa, which is Leia's adopted father.

http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/bailorgana/

But great points on West Wing. I have been watching from the beginning and it is my all-time favorite show. I am sad to see it go, but I think it is time. It has had a long and sucessfull run, but in politics, there are not too many more places it can go. IMHO. :)

[J. Stephen McDonald]

Originally Posted by Scott Vystrcil

But great points on West Wing. I have been watching from the beginning and it is my all-time favorite show. I am sad to see it go, but I think it is time. It has had a long and sucessfull run, but in politics, there are not too many more places it can go. IMHO. :)

I have a reverse opinion on that-----I think that it not only has many more places to go, but that it is going there right now, in a big way, just as its days are numbered. An analogy: If Babe Ruth could hit 3 home runs on his last day as a player, why did he have to retire at that time? Why wasn't he still with the Yankees? I don't think it was because people were tired of seeing him knock the ball into the stands, it was due to a sorry combination of ownership and sports politics.

[Steven Gotz]

I would understand if the liberal democrats got tired of writing the show, or ran out of ideas. But I kept hoping that the Republicans would win the election, and that a conservative would start writing the show. Wouldn't it be a great 8 years watching the show with a different slant?

[J. Stephen McDonald]

Originally Posted by Steven Gotz

I would understand if the liberal democrats got tired of writing the show, or ran out of ideas. But I kept hoping that the Republicans would win the election, and that a conservative would start writing the show. Wouldn't it be a great 8 years watching the show with a different slant?

Although this show is about politics, I was hoping that partisan comments would not become a part of this thread. One of the reasons The West Wing has been so popular, is that it provides an alternate version of what really takes place in Washington.

[Frank Granovski]

'Er..., you mean the Right Wing, don't ya? ;*)

[Steven Gotz]

I didn't mean it to be partisan. That isn't the point. I am sorry if it sounded that way.

I just believe that the people who write the show got tired of it. So turning it over to a different type of writer might light a fire under the show. It would also allow some of the same players to return, like Sam did, when the next election came about. Josh could be a lobbyist against tobacco, stuff like that.

[J. Stephen McDonald]

The last chapter in the series aired yesterday and it was mostly very well done. I liked the way they covered most of the important issues, in the alloted time. I appreciated their showing of the pilot episode, beforehand. But even so, it was too much like a memorial service for the beloved series. The writers took the easy way out, by not showing the incoming President's speech, or revealing the contents of the outgoing President's personal letter to him. It was cheesy of them, having a brief promotional for a new show for next season, starring one of this show's key actors. This struck me as like going to a man's funeral and bringing an eligible suitor to introduce to his widow. How thoughtful of them, to not use J. Garofelo at all in the program.

This show may rival "24" for being the most popular in DVD box-set re-runs.
I'd much rather see new episodes and continue to enjoy the escape from the grim realities it provided. Let's hope that "Commander in Chief" fills the need.